1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that performs a high-speed double-sided printing process.
2. Description of the Related Art
Examples of a method of performing double-sided printing of a plurality of pages on a printing apparatus capable of double-sided printing include a method (2-page type sequence, normal double-sided printing control) of printing respective pages in an order of back side/front side for each paper sheet, for example, in order of Page2→Page1→Page4→Page3. Another example thereof is a method (4-page type sequence, high-speed double-sided printing control) of printing in an order of, for example, Page2→Page4→Page1→Page3, by printing on one side (back side in the above-mentioned example) of a first paper sheet, supplying a next paper sheet to perform printing on the same-side (back side in the above-mentioned example) thereof while reversing the first paper sheet, and then printing on the unprinted front side of the reversed paper sheet having the one side thereof already printed. In this method, during a time taken to reverse the paper sheet, the next paper sheet is subjected to an operation of single-sided printing, thereby making it possible to increase a printing speed.
In performing the above-mentioned high-speed double-sided printing control, if there is a request for double-sided printing upon completion of printing on a first printing side, a high-speed double-sided printing process is executed (in a case where a condition for carrying out high-speed double-sided printing is satisfied). However, if there is no request for double-sided printing, a printing process is performed on a second printing side corresponding to a page subsequent to a page for which printing has been completed, thereby finishing the double-sided printing. In this case, even if the request for double-sided printing is received immediately after the printing process on the second printing side, the high-speed double-sided printing control may not be carried out, resulting in a delay of the process.